Beware: Pranksters out today

Pranksters will be on the loose today to play tricks on the unwary, mostly in the spirit of fun, but actually in commemoration of a Biblical event — the massacre of thousands of innocent children by King Herod a few days after the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.

Niños Inocentes Day is now celebrated by the Catholic Church with a Holy Mass dedicated to the murdered children, now considered as "the First Saints of the Church."

How the commemoration of this tragic event turned into an occasion akin to an American April Fools’ Day celebration defies reason and logic.

While the Filipino faithful continue to observe religious rites today, pranks are the order of the day.

Practical jokes and harmless trickery are done, like "borrowing" money or things from "innocent" victims, who of course, should never expect to get the items or the cash back.

The martyrdom of the innocents happened when Herod, who had been wary of the foretold birth of the Messiah, failed to find the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem, despite his attempt to beguile the three magi who found the baby Jesus.

The magi, after giving Him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, returned to their land via a different route, skipping Jerusalem altogether. Warned by an angel in a dream, Joseph brought Mary and Jesus safely to Egypt.

Troubled and chagrined by the fact that the magi made a fool of him, Herod ordered that all newborn babies and first-born children in and around Bethlehem be killed to secure his throne and kingship.

Days and nights of terror reigned as soldiers carried out Herod’s horrendous order and the air was filled with the wailing and lamentations of mothers grieving over their murdered children.

Today’s Scripture reading recalls this supreme sacrifice of innocent children and their parents so that Jesus may live and fulfill what He was ordained to do.